TIGER WEIGHT TALK DREARY FROM O’LEARY

WIN, lose or draw in the final outing of his career in the Cross-Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, let’s just hope that the tittle-tattle over Tiger Roll’s rating is not part of the legacy of a remarkable horse.

The dual Grand National winner will not take part in this year’s renewal and when the weights were released, the inevitable moaning and groaning from the boss of Gigginstown House Stud began yet again.

On Tiger Roll’s rating of 161, Michael O’Leary said: ‘He is now 12. He is clearly not as he was at eight or nine, yet the UK handicapper now rates him 2lbs higher than his 159 rating in April 2019, when he won both the Boyne Hurdle and the Grand National. ‘This rating is absurd and unfair.’ However, the manner in which Tiger Roll hacked up in last year’s Cross-Country Chase suggests there is still plenty of ability there in the dual Grand National winner. The handicapper can’t dismiss that piece of form out of hand. O’Leary described Tiger Roll once as a ‘little rat of a thing’.

Let’s remember the Tiger for his achievements rather than the needless sniping from his owners.